Analysis of Long-term Stored Plasma Samples for Investigation into the Pathophysiology of Vibration-induced White Finger: Preliminary Results

Blood samples were collected 25 yr ago from hand-arm vibration syndrome patients with vibration-induced white finge/VWF (VWF+ group) and without it (VWF− group), and healthy controls (n=12 in each group), and stored at −80°C. The subjects provided venous blood twice: at baseline, and after cold exposure at 7°C for 25 min. Blood specimens were analyzed for plasma endothelin-1 (ET-1) by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Baseline concentration of plasma ET-1 was found to be significantly larger in the VWF– group than the control group, whereas no such difference was observed for the VWF+ group. However, the %change was larger in the VWF+ group (107.73 ± 30.49%) than the other two groups, and more subjects in the VWF+ group showed the maximum increase in ET-1 than the other two groups. In conclusion, ET-1 appears to have a role in the pathophysiology of VWF.